A preview of the prelease version of AnalysIR showing discrete mode and zooming features

AnalysIR's insight:

For anyone interested in IR protocols -- we have just launched a project on IndieGoGo for AnalysIR -- IR Decoder & Analyzer (Arduino & Raspberry Pi). Currently we support 17 IR protocols and are looking for more to add as part of the project. Suggestions Welcome!

One of the most popular projects involving Infrared remote control, is to use an Arduino to control an Air conditioner (AC) system. However, AC signals are usually very long and take up a lot of SRAM on a standard Arduino. Experienced users will go about reverse engineering the AC protocol to make the sketch fit … Continue reading Sending long AC Signals from Flash with IRremote →

Marco is a volunteer for an organization (NSW Australia) that builds custom aids for people with disability, and has recently been looking at a project to create a ‘very large button’ IR remote control for a cable TV Set Top Box (STB). The custom unit needed basic functions (Channel Up/Down, Volume Up/Down and Power On/Off). … Continue reading Troubleshooting the Big Button Infrared remote control with AnalysIR →

AnalysIR's insight:

The project brings back memories of our own Custom TV remote control using Arcade style console and Follow up: Custom TV infrared remote control using Arcade style console. Fortunately, our project is no longer needed as the user has regained enough mobility to use a standard remote.

Troubleshooting the Big Button Infrared remote control with AnalysIR

Marco has created a comprehensive 4 part series covering the whole project and makes an excellent read.

The final member of our first MakeIR series of devices & kits is the A.IR Shield Photon. This shield works out of the box with AnalysIR and is essentially plug & play, with additional prototyping options. The shield plugs into a (Particle) Photon with headers or pin-compatible clone. Although designed specifically for AnalysIR, users can … Continue reading Preview: A.IR Shield Photon, a high-end Infrared Shield for AnalysIR →

AnalysIR's insight:

A MakeIR Kit

LearnIR, SendIR, RepeatIR , BeamIR, A.IR Shield Nano, A.IR Shield Photon and DetectIR are part of the MakeIR series which comprises a range of innovative infrared remote control kits and devices for makers, hobbyists and professionals.

AnalysIR is an advanced analyser & decoder designed by AnalysIR which offers tight integration with both LearnIR & the A.IR shields for advanced users.

Since we received our Photon several months ago it has been difficult to find a working example of Hardware PWM on the Photon. Initially, we ported our softPWM approach to the Photon, which is excellent. However, we figured it must be possible to use at least one of the spare UARTs on the Photon to achieve our goal. So first we started prototyping on the Arduino and quickly got a working example with some limitations – only 40 kHz and 33 kHz carrier frequencies were possible with the UART without delving into the registers a bit more. Then we moved the code over to the Photon, leveraging our previous softPWM examples, upgraded with the Arduino code – EUREKA! The Backdoor uPWM Hack on Photon for Infrared signals.

The sixth and last member of our first MakeIR series of devices & kits is BeamIR the Infrared Light Barrier. This pair of modules is based on an Infrared Light Barrier system with a range of additional applications. In addition to Light Barriers, BeamIR can also be used to deliver solutions involving Security projects, Lap Timers, Laser Tag – invisible trip wire, Photography, Photo Interrupter, Reflective sensors for hand dryers, towel or soap, Dispensers, water faucets, toilet flush, Vending machine fall detection, Virtual ‘fence’, CNC wireless Probes, Security and pet gates, Person or object vicinity activation. BeamIR is built with only the highest quality IR components available and includes constant current drivers, noise suppression circuitry and visual indicators on signal lock.

The fifth member of our MakeIR series of devices & kits is the A.IR Shield. This shield works out of the box with AnalysIR, IRremote & IRLib.

AnalysIR's insight:

The shield comes attached to an Arduino nano compatible device (clone). Although designed specifically for AnalysIR, users can also upload IRremote, IRLib or any Arduino sketches that run on the Nano. A.IR shield is built with only the highest quality IR components available and boasts dual Infrared emitters

The smart lamp is a desk lamp apparently not different from the others that are located in the offices, near the PC...

AnalysIR's insight:

The smart lamp is a desk lamp apparently not different from the others that are located in the offices, near the PC monitor. However, it allows you to do one more thing: adjust the indoor thermal comfort by interacting directly with the PdC optimizing power consumption. For its construction we have used some pieces taken from a broken lamp. The remaining parts are appropriately designed to accommodate the various components and realized through the aid of a 3D printer.

In Part 1 of this series, we demonstrated how to send signals using simple Infrared PWM on Arduino. In this Part 2 post we look at sending RAW IR signals.

AnalysIR's insight:

...specifically a RAW NEC signal and a longer RAW Mitsubishi Air Conditioner signal. We have also improved the method shown in Part 1 due to some issues we identified when sending ‘real’ signals versus the ‘test’ signal we used before. (More on that later). In Part 3, we will take the signals from this post and show how to send them using their binary (or Hex) representation, which saves lots of SRAM. Free source code is also provided.

To complement our AnalysIR project we are making this starter kit of IR components available as a single order.

AnalysIR's insight:

We created this component kit as part of our original crowd-funding campaign to help makers get started with decoding IR remote control signals using quality IR components along with AnalysIR and an Arduino or RPi. (We also provide this and other kits at a discount via our own site, but only to users of AnalysIR.). After repeated requests we have now decided to offer it via Tindie to all makers worldwide.

The kit contains IR receivers for all of the most popular carrier frequencies (36kHz, 38kHz, 40kHz and 56kHz). The included IR LED or emitter can handle low current, 100mA and even short bursts of 1Amp for longer range or laser tag type projects. Again, all quality components.

In this post, we present a sketch for Simple Infrared PWM on Arduino. This is the first part in a 3 part series of posts covering variations in this topic.

AnalysIR's insight:

We are often asked on discussion boards, about conflicts between IRremote or IRLib and other Arduino Libraries. In this post, we present a sketch for ‘Simple Infrared PWM on Arduino’. This is the first part in a 3 part series of posts. Part 1 shows how to generate the simple Infrared carrier frequency on Arduino, using any available IO pin and without conflicting with other libraries. Part 2 will show how to send a RAW infrared signal using this approach and Part 3 will show how to send a common NEC signal from the binary or HEX value.

We reverse engineer this Mitsubishi AC Infrared protocol, an example of the more challenging AC Infrared protocols.

AnalysIR's insight:

This post is the second in a two-part series about Reverse Engineering AC Infrared protocols. This time we look at the Mitsubishi Air Conditioner IR Protocol. Detailed information is available via GitHub which is linked below. This 288 data bit Mitsubishi AC Infrared protocol is composed of two consecutive frames. Both frames are always identical for each signal sent. In common with most AC units the complete settings are sent with every IR signal (temperature, fan, swing etc…). AnalysIR was used to record and turn the signal into HEX/Binary format from which the reverse engineering of the individual fields was tackled.

we decided to put 2 of the more common 38kHz receivers, TSOP34438 vs VS1838B, 'head-to-head'

AnalysIR's insight:

Having helped many makers resolve problems with Infrared remote control projects over on the Arduino forum, we decided to put 2 of the more common 38kHz receivers, TSOP34438 vs VS1838B, 'head-to-head' . For more details visit:

We received our ESP8266 NodeMCU several months ago it has been difficult to find a working example of Hardware PWM to generate crisp Infrared carrier signals. Most posts we have read suggest that there is no PWM readily available on any of the supported platforms. As we have already shown with Arduinos and the Particle … Continue reading ESP8266 NodeMCU Backdoor uPWM Hack for IR signals →

A few months ago a new user to AnalysIR, from Canada, asked us to assist in adding ESP8266 NodeMCU Infrared decoding over WiFi into AnalysIR. We set about making some upgrades to AnalysIR for this an in double quick time he had AnalysIR accepting IR signals from the ESP8266 over WiFi. He stressed the ease … Continue reading ESP8266 NodeMCU Infrared decoding added to AnalysIR →

AnalysIR's insight:

ESP8266 NodeMCU now joins a growing list of devices supported for use with AnalysIR, including:

In recent years we have responded to hundreds of supports requests on the Arduino Forum, GitHub and elsewhere for many recurring issues with IRremote – the library for Infrared remote control. As many of the issues are similar we decided it was time to develop a ‘IRremoteInfo a Helper utility for troubleshooting IRremote’ that will … Continue reading IRremoteInfo a Helper utility for troubleshooting IRremote →

A hack for Hacks using AnalysIR. Guido, was tasked with upgrading an old in-house WRC system to allow the team of Sport's Journalists to access the rack

AnalysIR's insight:

One of our users from Italy, Guido, was tasked with upgrading an old in-house WRC system to allow the team of Sport’s Journalists to access the rack of satellite receivers relaying the various sports events around the building. The challenge is that all of the STB (Set Top Boxes) are located in a dedicated room away from the Journalist’s desks and it is impractical for them to manually change the stations when working to tight deadlines. Previously there was a system in place to remotely switch feeds, but Guido needed to upgrade the system to handle the ever growing number of devices and Infrared protocols. Luckily, he found AnalysIR during his research to implement ‘a hack for Hacks using AnalysIR‘.

This frequency standard is intended for hobbyists who need a 10 MHz reference to calibrate their existing counters, act as an internal/external reference for their counters or want to create another reference by ‘hacking’ this unit further. It is not intended for dedicated ‘time-nuts’, who will have much superior standards available to them.

In Part 1 of this series, we demonstrated how to send signals using soft or Simple Infrared PWM on Arduino. In our Part 2 post we looked at sending RAW IR signals – specifically a RAW NEC signal and a longer RAW Mitsubishi Air Conditioner signal using soft PWM. We have since improved the PWM method shown in Part 1 & Part 2 to provide better performance and improve portability. In this Part 3, we will take the signals from Part 2 and show how to send them using their binary (or Hex) representation, which can save lots of SRAM in many projects, particularly when dealing with longer AC signals.

Dublin, Ireland – 27th August 2015. We are happy to announce the latest release of AnalysIR V1 preview #3 is now available for download by our backers & supporters. Existing users of AnalysIR will receive an email with instructions on how to download this version. New users will receive the details as part of the … Continue reading Latest release of AnalysIR V1 preview #3 is now available for download →

We have just finished porting our (single source) firmware from a range of other ‘Arduino’ type platforms to Particle’s Photon, having received it yesterday & thought it would be useful sharing some of our experiences for other ‘newbies’. The photon is one of a breed of modern IoT devices hitting the market at relatively low … Continue reading Porting AnalysIR firmware to Particle’s Photon platform →

Two of our users in France collaborated to reverse engineer one of the more challenging Panasonic AC Infrared protocols using AnalysIR.

AnalysIR's insight:

Not only did they identify the codes & checksum but also provided some impressive documentation and full source code to help others. Detailed information is available via GitHub which is linked below. This 216 data bit Panasonic AC Infrared protocol is composed of two consecutive frames. The first frame remains constant for every command sent to the AC unit. In common with most AC units the complete configuration is sent with every IR signal (temperature, fan, swing etc…). AnalysIR was used to record and turn the signal into HEX/Binary format from which the reverse engineering of the individual fields was tackled.

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